Analysis by Diabetes UK shows 5.9 per cent of people in Reading now have diabetes and by 2020 the charity expects that to rise to 6.5 per cent

The number of people in Reading being diagnosed with diabetes is increasing.

In one year 181 more people have been diagnosed with the disease, meaning 7,668 people now have diabetes in the town, according to leading charity Diabetes UK.

The primary care diabetes lead for Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) says although diabetes is increasingly common, a lot is being done to help prevent and manage it.

Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly.

There are two types: Type 1 is when the body is unable to produce insulin so glucose builds up in the blood.

The more common Type 2 develops when the body does not produce enough insulin to maintain a normal blood glucose level, or when the body is unable to effectively use the insulin that is being produced.

Analysis by Diabetes UK shows 5.9 per cent of people in Reading now have diabetes and by 2020 the charity expects that to rise to 6.5 per cent.

There are 3.8 million people in the UK living with diabetes, including an estimated 850,000 who don’t know they have Type 2.

By 2020 Diabetes UK expects that number to increase to five million.

Dr Richard Croft, primary care diabetes lead for Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) and a GP at Tilehurst Surgery, linked the increase to the rise in obesity.

He said: “If you have a BMI of over 35 you are something like 10 to 25 times more likely to develop diabetes.

“In the last two or three decades people have recalibrated what overweight looks like.

“I get people coming to see me who are normal weight, but think they are underweight.

“We have recalibrated what we regard as normal because so many people are overweight.”

Risk factors for Type 2 include being overweight, having a large waist, being over 40 or over 25 if you are South Asian or having a close family member with diabetes.

The CCGs have introduced NHS Health Checks and worked with the charity Silver Star to target ‘at risk’ sectors of the community.

“We are running sessions to target those people at risk of the condition,” explained Dr Croft.

“So the fact we are doing more screening is certainly part of the increase.”

Ten per cent of the NHS budget is spent on diabetes and at any time in a hospital, 18 per cent of patients have the condition.

Dr Croft said: “Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputation and kidney failure. If you have the condition you are more likely to develop a medical emergency.

“Of the diabetes budget, 80 per cent is spent in hospital and it is all to do with complications.”